Trial begins for Fillmore man accused of killing sister

A Fillmore man who beat his sister to death is on trial on a murder charge in Ventura County Superior Court.

During opening statements Monday, prosecutor Rebecca Day said David Morales beat and choked his sister before killing her with a hammer.

“Over and over, he beat her with a curtain rod all over the body,” Day told jurors.

After being stopped briefly by two men, Morales found a hammer, attacked Maricruz Morales again and hit her on the head, she added.

“He crushed her skull with one forceful blow,” Day told jurors.

Maricruz Morales, 20, a Fillmore High School graduate, was beaten to death Sept. 15, 2010, during a domestic dispute at the family’s Sespe Avenue apartment in Fillmore, according to authorities.

David Morales, 33, also is charged with assault with force causing great bodily injury stemming from the beating of his mother, who tried to help her daughter.

Morales’ lawyer, Claudia Bautista with the Public Defender’s Office, urged jurors to listen to all the testimony and wait for all the evidence before making a decision.

She said the only question is what to label the homicide, conceding that Morales killed his sister.

Day described Morales as a selfish, violent man who didn’t work and or contribute to the family finances. She said he sometimes slept in his bedroom all day and that his family, including his mother and sister, wanted him out of the house.

“He was a drain on the family,” Day told jurors.

The trouble began when Maricruz Morales and her mother were moving to a nearby one-bedroom apartment from their two-bedroom apartment and David Morales refused to move, Day said. Morales, who didn’t like anyone to go into his room, got out of the shower and saw his sister again packing his things.

Bautista told jurors that the victim was “breaking and tearing” Morales’ belongings and putting them into trash bags. He confronted her, and an argument ensued.

Day described how the siblings’ mother went to neighbors to ask for help. David Garcia and Oscar Perez tried to stop the beating, she said. Garcia kicked David Morales hard in the head. Morales grabbed a U-shaped metal tube and threatened Garcia, who left.

Morales then grabbed the hammer and hit his sister hard in the head, Day said.

Morales’ mother doesn’t want to testify against her son, Day told jurors.

“She doesn’t want justice for Mary (Maricruz),” Day said. “The mother wants him home because she doesn’t want to lose two children.”